Cinderella
by Franta
Summary: I present to you what happens when I watch Cinderella and CI all in one night… and no, those pestilential little mice will not make an appearance…
1. Chapter 1

OK- I'm having a seriously hard time picking back up with 3 Violins- not for lack of ideas or trying, other things are just coming to me at the moment. I'll buckle back down once school restarts…

Now, the premise for this story is actually the sad product of way too much babysitting and Law & Order in one night- How Bobby and Alex met! I present to you what happens when I watch Cinderella and CI all in one night… and no, thosepestilential little mice will not make an appearance…

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Law & Order: CI or Cinderella (the Disney version), but i wish i owned a bit of L & O... VDO is God's gift to acting, and Bobby Goren is God's gift to Crime Dramas... I own nothing!

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Alex walked into the banquet room. She was already regretting not wearing something a little warmer. She had made the mistake of taking her partner shopping with her to help her pick the dress. She had been so excited that in the heat of the moment she called her partner, they shrieked over the phone for about 5 minutes, and then decided that they just _had_ to go shopping. "Darlin', you need a kick-ass dress!" her partner, Anna, had shouted over the phone.

I suppose this bears repeating form the beginning…

Alex is still in Vice, and her best friend is her partner, Anna. There wasn't a single case the two of them couldn't get. They were practically attached at the hip- they really were when Alex's husband died- you didn't have one without the other. One time they had even arrested 3 guys in one spot for offering themselves up as a pair… boy, were those guys surprised… But Alex and Anna just laughed at them, messed with them, and then arrested them. Sounds like fun.

As much fun as Alex was having, she did want to move up. She was getting tired of Vice and was looking to do a little more detective work, and less bait work. Well, about 2 weeks after she had put in her request, it was granted. Her commanding officer pulled every string he had, sent her application to One PP, and soon enough Jimmy Deakins was calling to lay claim on the 5'3 firecracker.

As the timing just so happened to work out, The Commissioner was having a banquet for this year's retiring batch of Detectives. There had been quite a few, and they were some of the best. This meant that as a new appointee to Major Case, Alex was invited. She would get to meet the Commissioner, her new boss, and a number of her prospective partners. All of this news had come at once to her, which was why she got all excited and called up Anna in a frenzy. They went out almost immediately to find a dress.

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Alex walked out of the dressing room in a slick purple dress. "Well?" she said.

Anna studied her. "The color's nice, but the shape's all wrong. Here, try this." Alex walked back into the dressing room. "Hey Alex, I did a little asking around about Major Case," Anna said excitedly.

"Ooh, what did you find out?" She threw the purple dress over the door, and grabbed the light blue one.

"Not much. Just a bunch of old guys, I heard. That's actually where a bunch of the retirees are coming from. Guess that's why you got bumped up so quickly."

"Works for me," Alex said, opening the door to show Anna a long light blue dress.

"Ah… no," Anna said, surveying the dress. "Too pale, but I like the cut. Try it in the purple…" She passed Alex another dress.

Alex went back into her dressing room. "So, just a bunch of old guys, huh?"

"Yah, You'll be the youngest coming in. There's another younger detective there. He hasn't been there long, so he's the newbie as of now. But they say he's the biggest brain."

"Oh great, probably an ass-hole."

"I wouldn't know. Nobody seemed to know much of anything about him except he's quiet and currently partner-less."

"Oh joy…" Alex said, emerging from the dressing room in the same dress as before, but in the dark purple. It was a spaghetti strap deep purple dress. But it wasn't the usual straight shap. The chest line was a bowl and so the straps clung to the tips of Alex's shoulders, which allowed the dress to taper inward all the way from her shoulders to her hips, then curve back out over her legs. There were lighter purple sashes that criss-crossed all over.

"Oh, yah," Anna said with a grin. "Look at your ass!"

Alex blushed.

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So, here she was, standing at the door of the Banquet hall, which was enormous and filled to the brim with old men in tuxedos. As was mentioned earlier, Alex was already wishing she'd brought a jacket or something. All she had was the sash that went with her dress. It barely covered her shoulders.

She walked in, checked her name with the doorman, and looked at the card she had been given as she walked across the hall towards the table that matched the number on her card.

Once she reached her table she sat down. Also at her table was a tall man with grey hair. His name tag said "Captain James Deakins."

"Captain Deakins?" Alex asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Alexandra Eames," she said, holding out a hand.

Deakins took her hand and shook it. He looked smart in his tuxedo, and Alex got the appearance that he ran a tight, but pleasant ship. "Nice to meet you, Alexandra."

"Please, call me Alex," she said smiling.

"Nice to meet you, _Alex_. This is Detective Market, he's retired though." Alex nodded to the man to Deakins right. "This is Detective Reynolds," he said motioning to the man on Market's right. Alex nodded again. "And, I don't believe Detective Goren has shown up yet. He's new too. He's only been here for about 3 months."

Alex smiled again. "Nice to meet you all."

"So, excited about coming over from Vice?" he asked.

"In a way. It's a great change for me, but I'll miss my partner."

Deakins laughed. "I've heard about you two. Thelma and Louise."

Alex smiled. "I don't know about that… there are a few discrepancies, I'm sure."

At this Deakins laughed again. "Ah, Here's Detective Goren," he said, turning. A very tall man with acute nose and salt and pepper hair sat down next to Alex.

"Bobby, this is Alex Eames. She just transferred from Vice."

"Nice to meet you," he said shyly.

There was an awkward silence until Detective Martin spoke up at last. "So, all us old farts got polled on what we wanted the theme of this little get together to be," he said slyly.

"I noticedthe invitewas conspicuously vague," Deakins said.

"Let's just say we're going down, and we're going to take you with us. Have you ever seen an old man dance, Detective Eames?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2

"Dance?" she asked, though she knew what was coming.

"Yes, Dance."

"Just my father. He was on the force as well, so I guess I have seen an old cop dance."

"Then you're quite aware of what a treat you're in for," Martin said smugly.

"My dad was a bit younger than you when we last danced," she said.

At this Martin laughed madly. "Oh ho! Quick one, you are. You'll have to watch out for this one, Bobby. She's sharp."

Goren smiled. "You were talking about dancing, Jack? What kind of music, then?"

Detective Jack Martin rubbed his hands together with an evil grin on his face. "Ballroom."

Deakins choked on his glass of wine. Bobby's smile widened in amusement. Alex's look of total surprise was indescribable. Reynolds had an evil grin matching that of Martin.

The two old detectives looked at each other and smiled. "So, when does the circus start?" Alex asked.

"After Dinner- ah, speaking of which," he looked up at the plate descending by waiter's arm in front of him.

"Holy Crap," said Reynolds at the sight of the steak in front of him. "So this is where our budget for the year went."

"You're the ones who asked for steak and ballroom dancing," Bobby said smiling.

"You're going to take pleasure in this, aren't you, Detective?" Alex asked Bobby, smiling.

"I just like watching people," he said simply.

"Oh, so you're going to watch me fall on my ass, are you?"

"Heavens no," he said, looking up from his plate. "Chances are I'll contribute to the disaster as well."

"That's my boy, Bobby," Jack said, giving Bobby a hearty slap on the back.

They went through dinner discussing each other. Alex was asked all about her history with Vice, something the older men took great amusement in listening to. Alex was careful to watch Goren as she mentioned the various things she had done and witnessed. The only problem was that she could get no response from him. She didn't know why, she just wanted to see what his every reaction was like. It was almost a quest or game to her. What would he do?

Martin and Reynolds took turns reminiscing about life at Major Case, which, through their embellishments, almost seemed to rival that of Vice.

Bobby only said so much to give that he had just gotten to Major Case a few months ago and had served in the army some time ago. He was in no way shy; he just didn't seem as interested in himself as a subject of discussion as he was interested in others or others' past cases.

Deakins was enjoying himself too much not to join in the reminiscence about old cases and some of the weirdoes they had arrested. For some reason with cops it's all about the craziest dude they've ever dealt with. Alex, of course, had them all beat. Everybody loves to talk about sex.

Alex was not feeling so nervous now, especially since she seemed to have the two older detectives wrapped around her finger. She was starting to enjoy her power. For some reason though, she didn't seem to have Goren's attention either way- whether under her thumb, or a rebel. She just couldn't get him to respond. She was annoyed, but also too shy to pursue it, which puzzled her as well.

While she sat there puzzling about her fascination with Detective Goren, she was totally unaware that he was sitting there puzzling about his fascination with her. He noticed that she had gained her feminine power and was flexing it. It was true; he really did like to watch people.

Soon the music started and Martin was up and asking Alex to dance with him. "Dear, Detective Eames, this may be the only chance you get to dance at a police function with an older, handsome man."

"You sound like a greased pig, but I like it," she said with a grin. She kicked off her shoes and walked out onto the dance floor with Jack.

Bobby watched her walk off and said, "She took off her shoes."

Deakins just smiled and shrugged. He had to watch Eames too, you know. He had to see what she was like in order to try to find a good partner for her. Deakins was curious to see what he was getting. Eames made him laugh. It was going to be interesting to have her around.

Both men tried to watch her dance, but soon lost her in the crowd.

She came back several minutes later, looking thoroughly flushed and as if she had enjoyed herself.

"Bobby, she's all yours," said Jack Martin, holding out Alex's hand.

"Oh, no, really. I couldn't," she tried to say with a smile as she attempted to resist having her arm transferred to Goren's. She was almost sure he wouldn't take it. But then, she felt his hand close on hers, and her wrist released by Jack.

Goren slid smoothly from his chair and walked with Alex towards the crowd of (amateur) dancers. He placed his hand on her hip and they began to dance. This was by no means the fast paced expert ballroom dancing that people had come to expect; it was simply ballroom music, that didn't mean that the people dancing were pros.

"You're much better at this than Jack," she said.

"You're lying," he said, smiling at her.

"How can you tell that?"

"Because you looked me in the eye."

"Isn't that the sign of the truth?"

"But I bet you already knew that," he said.

"I did," she said looking him straight in the eye again. "And I wasn't lying."

They continued to dance, but they didn't say anything. They shamelessly took this as an opportunity to examine the other. They tried to analyze the other at the same time, which didn't really work. They just ended up looking at each other. The funny thing was that neither of them realized this is what was going on. All Alex could see was that Bobby was looking at her, watching her, following the curve of her dress with his eyes. All Bobby could see was Alex looking at him, listening to him, following his feet, and occasionally looking at his eyes with an odd fascination.

The music stopped, and Bobby and Alex stood where they were. Soon, they were greeted by a tall man in one hell of a tux. "Commissioner Rice," Bobby said.

"Nice to see you again, Detective Goren. Detective Eames, you have very pretty feet,"

"What- oh god." Alex blushed.

"It's ok. I totally understand," he said smiling. "So, met your new captain, yet?"

"Yes, sir, but if you don't mind my asking how you knew my name."

"Oh. I handled your promotion personally. I never forget a face- it was in your file. That and it's on your name tag," he said with another grin.

"Oh," she smiled. "Yes. I've met captain Deakins. He's really nice. Really smart."

"You bet your life on it. Man didn't get there for no reason," he said with pompous agreement. "Detective Goren, you got a partner yet?"

"No, sir."

"Ah, don't worry. Not everyone can think you're weird for ever."

Bobby forced a smile.

"Well, I'd better go mingle some more. Nice to talk to you both," he said before bouncing off to the next pair of Detectives.

Bobby looked at Alex. "You ok?" he asked.

"I can't believe I met the Commissioner with no shoes on," she said, gasping for breath.

"It was rather amusing," he replied. Alex looked at him through her gasps and suddenly smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bobby walked Alex back to her table, where she hastily attached her shoes to her little handbag so she wouldn't forget them .She had no intention of putting them back on, she just didn't want to loose them. They were expensive.

Her head emerged from under the table and she rejoined the party.

"So, how was the dance?" Reynolds asked.

"It was pretty good," she answered.

"It was more than pretty good- you were out there for half an hour before the Commissioner came up to you," Martin cut in. Both Alex and Bobby blushed. "Oooh, time for desert," said Martin with enthusiasm.

"Oh yah," Alex said as a chocolate mousse was placed in front of her.

"Did you know that 60percent of women surveyed said they'd rather go without a man than chocolate?" said Bobby conversationally.

Alex slowly pulled the fork out of her mouth, savoring every last bit of chocolate. "I believe it," she finally said. "I could melt right here." They all laughed andAlex caught Bobby's eyes.

After a while Deakins, Martin, and Reynolds all got into a conversation about the two Detectives' retirement, leaving the newbies, Alex and Bobby, to fend for themselves.

After more talking and conversation Alex still wasn't sure about Bobby. She had heard that he could be a little weird, but she couldn't find any evidence of "weird" past him obviously being a nerd.

He seemed shy at first, but once she had brushed upon the subject of criminal motive he was off like a rocket, talking faster and more excitedly than she even thought possible from Anna, and that was saying a lot. She smiled at how enthusiastic he was about the subject, but after a while began to compare him to a chatty teenager crossed with a know-it-all.

It's true she was interested in all of that, but she was much more ready to attribute the basic emotions and common stupidity to a majority of crimes. But she didn't dwell on it. Bobby was… unusual, she had decided. Sweet, but unusual.

In truth, Bobby was just so happy to have somebody listen to him, someone who was interested. Also, someone who was younger than the usual old fart. He had always felt like he was a big fish in a small (rapidly aging) pond. Now that there was someone who was actually younger than him, he didn't feel so large- even ifthey weren'tpartners.He felt like he might actually fit in for the first time in a long time. Of course, "fit in" was a relative term...

Eventually the evening wore down (Alex had managed to get both Reynolds and Martin to offer up their chocolate mousse to her), and they all stood up to say goodbye. Alex shook everybody's hand at the table. She said goodbye to Deakins who said, "See you in a week!"

She said Goodbye to Detectives Martin and Reynolds, who both insisted on giving her a kiss on the cheek and promising to make sure she got their old desks for her and her new partner (at which point they gave a gleaming look towards Goren).

Finally she came to Goren who said, "It was a pleasure to meet you. I'll see you at work," and nothing more.

Alex turned and left, but little did she know that one of the straps on her shoes (which were strapped to her purse) had broken. The shoe toppled to the floor and she left without noticing...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Alex reached her car and realized that she was missing something. "Shit, I knew this would happen." Too lazy and tired to go back to look for it (aren't we all) she climbed into her car and drove home barefoot.

She pulled into the garage, clambered to the elevator, and fell inside her tiny apartment. She threw her purse and remaining shoe on the counter, picked up the phone and called Anna. It was at least midnight, but she didn't care. She knew Anna'dprobably be uppartying with her roommate.

Her assumptions were correct. Anna answered the phone and there was booming music in the background. "Hey, Anna, it's Alex. I just got back!" she shouted into the telephone.

"Shit, girl! I'm coming over and you can tell me all about it."

About 20 minutes later Anna showed up and let herself in. She found Eames passed out cold on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table and wrapped in a heating pad.

"Alex, honey, wakeup." She nudged the shoulder of her partner, who then grumbled and rolled over into a ball on the couch. "Ah, she's tired. I'll let her sleep," Anna said. She turned and began to pick up around the apartment. She folded and hung up the purple sash, she pulled out a fresh pair of Pajamas- she made herself a bourbon and coke- then she got to the purse with the one shoe attached to it. "Where's its mate?" Anna delicately removed the shoe from the bag and began to search for the other shoe, but she couldn't find it.

She finally decided it was time to wake her partner. "Alex, honey. Where's your other shoe?"

Eames groaned and rolled over, opening her eyes slightly. "Lost it… dancing… Goren…" and she passed out again with a peaceful look on her face.

Anna shook her head with a smile and started cleaning up again. She was half way through the kitchen when she heard a knock at the door. "What the hell?" Anna crossed the room and took a look through the peephole. She saw the distorted figure of an extremely tall and handsome man with salt and pepper hair and a button nose who was dressed in a tux and had a badge clipped to the jacket pocket.

Anna bounded across the room with the biggest grin on her face. "Alex! Alex!" she whispered. "It's a Grecian God! Get up! Get up!" She shook her shoulders harder this time.

"Wha- what?" Alex mumbled.

"Alex, it's a hot cop in a tux!"

Alex immediate rolled off of the couch and ran haphazardly across the room to look through the peephole. "It's Goren!" she whispered.

Anna was trying to look through the peephole again. "Who?"

"Detective Goren, from the banquet- Anna, get lost!"

Anna ran across the room and into the bathroom, where she left the door cracked open so she could watch.

Taking a deep breath, Alex unlocked and opened the door. Right there was standing Detective Goren with a slight smile on his face and one hand behind his back. "Hi, Eames," he said. "I believe you lost this," he held up her left shoe.

"Oh, thanks," She said, taking the shoe. She examined it. "I had a feelingthe strap broke."

"Yah, those are cheap shoes," he said, though he almost instantly regretted it.

"I paid $60 for those, thank you very much!"

"Sorry- I only meant-" he tilted his head a little and awkwardly reached for the shoe. "See, the leather is sewn under the lining," he said, pointing to the strap with his double-jointed index finger. "It's a tell-tale sign of fake leather. That, and there's a loose thread here." He apologized to her with his eyes and withdrew his hand. After giving him a _'how'd you know that?'_ look, Alex carefully examined the shoe and saw that there was a piece of paper folded up inside the toe.

She carefully removed it, unfolded it a read it aloud. "Bobby, I think you and Detective Eames will be just fine together. Deakins."

She looked up at Goren, who didn't do or say anything at first. "Well, you've got your shoe back, I'm gonna go. See you Monday," he said. He turned and walked away.

"See you Monday," she called after him, "Partner…"

_fin._


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